She then tried to hang up on me a couple of times before I said goodbye and ended the conversation. That's the issue with having three ladies in the household. Whole lotta talking going on and Daddy is expected to be part of that chatter.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Kali 4.7 and Giselle 1.9 both watched 'Mamma Mia' with me the other night. It's a good 'grown up' movie for them. Lots of color, dancing, and songs to keep them interested. I danced around with them for awhile just to keep them entertained. Thankfully, they're too young to make fun of Daddy's dancing at this point.

Because of my occupation at an event location that has a lot of weddings, I had a realization. I was dancing with them, spinning them, dipping them, etc. I realized that some day, I'm going to be that dad, giving away his girls at a wedding, dancing with them at the reception, etc. I'm not sure how well I'm going to do in that regard. Ah well. I have a couple decades at a minimum to figure that all out.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Giselle 1.9 is all about learning. If you're sitting on the couch in the living room, that girl will just bring one book after another until you cut her off. There's been some nights where we had a pile of 20+ books sitting next to the couch after a marathon reading session. Add in that we usually read each book twice and we're going through a LOT of books.

Not only are the books interesting to her, but she remembers the words on each page or things that Mommy or Daddy might have said about those pages in previous readings. I often get caught off-guard while reading when she just spits out information about those pages before I even start reading. There are some books that she has memorized.

I'm very blessed to have two kids who don't take after me in the intelligence department.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

I've been saving extra money from work as spending money for our trip to Disney World in September. Kali 4.4 asked what I was doing when I put some money in a glass. I told her I was putting money aside to use when we go on our trip. Kali told me she had money to help as well.

She ran into her room and came back with her piggy bank. She was excited to dump out the change in her piggy bank (which was quite a bit to be honest) and put it in the 'Disney Vase'. She's excited to keep saving more money for Disney and has already said she'd like to keep saving after our trip so 'we can go to Disney again!'.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

My wife does everything for our family. She's nurturing, kind, considerate, loving, patient, helpful, and thoughtful. She's always looking out for the best interest of our children. She does whatever it takes to make sure they're always learning even when doing things that don't seem like learning.

As a result, my daughters love her unconditionally. When Mommy enters the room, anything being done at that time is dropped and the girls make sure to let Mommy know that they love her.

What a blessing that I have a wife that is such a good mother. She makes my job easy at times because she's able to do so much for our family. You can never thank someone enough for that, but I'll keep trying.

Friday, May 06, 2011

I just took down Giselle 1.5's crib tonight and replaced it with a toddler bed. She's in her room right now trying to figure out what's going on.

She's very excited to have her own bed. She rolled around in it and checked it out with Kali 4.2. She decided to toss her pillow out of bed. She wanted to lay down without a pillow. She's got 'bunny', 'puppy', and 'blanket' in there to keep her company.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

The U.S. Navy Seal Team knocked on Osama Bin Laden's door a few days ago and gave him his final punishment: death. He obviously deserved it and it was long overdue.

I'm sure that his death won't end terrorism as we know it. There will always be another idiot looking to gain power by attempting to strike fear in the hearts of people. With that said, I'm glad that my daughters will never have to know a world with Bin Laden. I'm also glad that they'll be able to look back in their history books and see that a bad guy who did some terrible things eventually was dealt with by our armed forces and that he wasn't able to get away with his actions without consequences.

Hopefully his computers have an address book of names that we can deal with the same as we dealt with Osama.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Giselle 1.5 has some issues with communication right now. She'd like to have things or do things, but she's decided that she's going to stick with grunting and yelling rather than migrate over to asking specifically for what she wants. We know she knows the words, but (even the second time around) it can lead to frustration by both Giselle and me.

I think part of the problem may be that Giselle is a bit more like Daddy than Kali 4.2 has been. Kali's very nurturing and doesn't hide her emotions much like her mom. Giselle is very forward and lets you know exactly how she feels much like Daddy. It should provide an excellent learning experience for me as I learn how to parent my doppelganger.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Giselle 1.5 and Kali 4.2 decided to take a bath together last night. Kali said that she needed to go potty before the bath. She went over and sat on the toilet to do her business.

Giselle had her diaper off. Giselle saw Kali and said 'Potty!'. She ran over to the toddler potty and sat right down on it. She then stood up and said 'Potty!' again. She walked to the other end of the bathroom, turned to look at me, and then went potty on the spot.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Giselle 1.2 has taken her first steps over the past week or so. She can walk a few steps before falling down or reaching her destination.

Last night, I asked her to walk over to me. She did it the first couple of times. After that, it became a game for her. She'd walk a few steps, fall down intentionally, and then crawl back to start over. She did this about 10 times, falling in the same spot each time. She thought it was pretty funny that Daddy wanted her to come over, but she never made it. Kali 4.0 soon joined in and Giselle would walk over and fall down before reaching Kali as well.

It's only a matter of time before Kali starts copy-catting her sister's antics. Heaven help us.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

At work today, I had a group of four retired ladies come in to visit. One of them had visited previously and decided to bring three of her friends out to see the place. She and her friends visit a new place each month just to broaden their horizons a bit. I gave them a full tour of our winery and they loved it all. They were thrilled to see so much of the history being saved for future visitors to see.

I put together a couple of cheese plates and let them try a couple of the wines. They chatted about a bunch of things while I was doing some work around the building. When they were finished up, two of them both told me that I had made their day by taking them through the place and chatting with them. While we run a business that is highly based on customer service, it's always nice to hear someone note that your efforts to make them feel welcome have made a positive impact on their day. Things like that boost you to do just as well for the next customers that walk through your doors.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

-When you go into a Wal-Mart, always note that the older gentleman with a name tag that says 'greeter' is just that, a greeter. If you ask him where an electronics item is, he's likely to look at you with a clueless look.

-If you suddenly realize that your greeter has hearing aids, you then have to decipher whether he couldn't hear your question or if he doesn't know what the item is you're asking about.

-When your four year-old makes observations that you never thought she noticed, you're in big trouble as a parent.

-A second child learns things much faster when watching the first born child. Giselle 1.2 may not be talking, but she's wicked smart.

-Running your own business brings on all new forms of challenges, but it's fantastic to invest your time in something you believe in as opposed to investing your time on what you feel are fruitless endeavors.

-It's amazing how many businesses don't understand that a smile and friendly conversation goes a long, long way to making customers very happy.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Giselle 0.11 finally is starting to figure out the whole standing thing. Yesterday, I put a glass on the table that was a 'safe' distance from the edge of the table since Giselle doesn't stand up yet. Unfortunately, that safe distance is no longer safe when your daughter decides that she's now ready to stand up and start walking herself around that coffee table.

I was looking at my computer and heard the glass fall over and looked up wondering how in the world that glass could have done that. All questions were answered when Giselle looked over at me, standing up on her feet with glass in hand.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

A fraternity brother of mine has been posting periodic updates about his friend's one-year old daughter and their fight with cancer at this website......

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucyweber

Unfortunately, the little girl passed away from her illness yesterday. This kind of stuff hits you like a load of bricks when your a parent of a one year old daughter. I can't even imagine dealing with losing my daughter after a year of life. Something like this allows me to remain focused on what is most important in my life. Silly things that happen pale in comparison to what my daughters mean to me.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Giselle 0.11 and Kali 3.9 went along with the family tonight to Arthur Bryant's BBQ. Always great stuff. Kali went with the chicken and Giselle decided to eat a couple of my ribs. I'm always shocked by the amount of food my little kids can eat. Kali just plowed through a pile of fries and then wanted more. Giselle tore through her fries and rib meat and just kept saying 'mo, mo'. She was HUNGRY. Interestingly enough, Giselle seems to be eating more while starting to thin out. She's stretching out and just keeps looking for more food to fuel that growth.

Monday, November 01, 2010

I was sitting with my friend Bobby at a restaurant for lunch today. I was just about to start ordering from the waitress when I saw a call from Mrs. Lime's phone. I asked the waitress to wait a second because it was my wife. Note that Bobby and my waitress were only hearing my end of the conversation.

Me: Hello?

Kali 3.9: Daddy, will you bring my butler home from Papa's buildings?

Me: Yes, sweetie. I will bring your butler home today.

(Bobby and waitress bust out laughing)

Me: Is there anything else?

Kali 3.9: Could you also bring back my mini-butler?

Me: Yes, I will bring back the mini-butler as well.

(Bobby and waitress continue laughing)

Me: I've got to let you go. I'll see you when I get home, OK?

Kali: OK, but don't forget my butler.

Me: I won't forget it. Bye.

For the uninitiated, we have two animated butlers that we put up over Halloween. We took them out to Papa's winery for the trick or treaters over the weekend and Kali was requesting they be returned. But it made for great amusement for my waitress and Bobby.

Friday, October 29, 2010

4:30 AM: Wake up5:00 AM: Start working at the winery on trim for windows8:30 AM: Run to Quiktrip for a caffeine boost and breakfast8:45 AM: Lots of stain work on trim11:45 AM: Hour long photo shoot for KC Star1:00 PM: Quick lunch break1:30 PM: More trim staining2:00 PM: Meet with bride and groom who visited for a second time.2:20 PM: More staining5:35 PM: Homeward bound6:00 PM: Get home to take care of kids6:35 PM: Trip with kids to pick up supplies for winery events tomorrow.8:00 PM: Giselle asleep9:30 PM: Kali to bed.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Kali 3.9 has really upped her imagination over the last few months. She's having very thorough cell phone conversations with all her friends. She just got off the phone with her cousin Gwen, who evidently invited her over to dinner tonight. In addition, she received two calls from Denver, Colorado. Her friend Brian called to inform Kali that he will be dressing up as a Crayola marker for Halloween. Her other friend Allison called to tell Kali that she'll be dressing up as a ninja.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Kali 3.9, Giselle 0.10 and I headed off to pick up a marine battery at Wal-Mart tonight. Kali had just purchased a witch costume today, so of course, she wanted to wear it to Wal-Mart. I decided to choose my battles wisely and let her do so.

We walked in and immediately, Kali was the center of attention. The greeter greeted her as Samantha the Good Witch. Giselle began to clap for Kali and her newfound celebrity status.

As we went through the store, Kali started to 'want' some things. I made it clear we were only here for a 'daddy thing' and then we were leaving. When that didn't suffice, I immediately went to an alternate plan. I informed Kali that real witches were not allowed in Wal-Mart after 8:00 PM. She asked if that's why she was the only real witch in the store. I informed her that we had three minutes until we had to be out of the store. We literally ran from the rear of the store. Kali was relieved when we made it out of the store one minute before it was time to get out.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Giselle 0.10 is really talking away at this point. Lots of babble mixed in with a few ma-ma, ba-ba, and some giggles. She's finally starting to stretch out in height. She's crawling quite a bit, so that extra work could be the cause of that change.

Kali 3.7 is in the full swing of being a kid now. She goes to preschool two days a week and does dance class one day a week. She loves preschool. We initially sent her for half-day school, but she begged us to go all day so that she could play with her friends all day instead of leave in the middle of the day. Request granted. Anything to make sure she burns more energy.

Friday, September 24, 2010

I'm in an unfortunate situation. When I hear something from Mrs. Lime or if I screw up and she tells me what I screwed up, Kali 3.8 serves as a voice recorder for what's being said. As a result, if I end up making the same mistake or doing the same thing at another time, my daughter is there to reprimand me.

Rolling stops at a stop sign are a prime example. She learned that we're supposed to come to a COMPLETE stop. So if I roll the stop sign in the SLIGHTEST, I hear 'Daddy, you didn't stop! I saw a stop sign and you didn't stop!'.

If I do something in the kitchen and Mrs. Lime doesn't do it the same way I do, Kali is there to ensure that I am told exactly how Mommy says to do it.

I have a feeling this will get worse rather than better since Kali is showing signs of great intelligence. As we all know, the kid always knows more than the adult.